The NFT space exploded in 2021, digital art sold for millions, and many celebrities like Snoop Dogg joined the movement. 2024 has introduced new categories of digital collectibles with BTC ordinals and Ethscriptions. There are still tons of exciting use cases and projects to invest in.
With over a decade in blockchain and early involvement in NFTs, our team of experts has curated a list of contenders for the top NFT projects to buy this year.
- Moonbirds: best NFT community
- Pudgy Penguins: best metaverse world
- Pikamoon: best play-to-earn (P2E) game
- Doodles: best for collectors
- Metropoly: best NFT for real-world items
- Bored Ape Yacht Club: best blue-chip NFT
- RobotEra: best upcoming game
- Azuki: best artwork
1. Moonbirds
Best NFT community
Moonbirds launched in April 2022 and became the top-selling NFT project at the time. They’re a collection of 10,000 unique, cartoon-style owls created by artist Justin Mezzell.
Moonbirds were created with a Creative Commons license (CC0) and are fully on-chain, so they can be fully customized and used to create new art. Mezzell created a series of backgrounds, and the project partnered with other artists like XCOPY and Des Lucréce to create special editions.
Prices start at 1.99 ETH, and owners can choose to “nest” their Moonbird for 30-180 days to earn rewards. They’ve launched additional phases of the project, Oddities, Mythics, and Diamond Exhibition, for new looks and collections of Moonbirds.
There’s a vibrant community on Discord to connect with other NFT holders and artists. With virtual and in-person events, Moonbirds persists as one of the most popular NFT collections.
2. Pudgy Penguins
Best metaverse world
Pudgy Penguins, founded by Luca Netz, is a collection of 8,888 NFTs featuring fun penguin characters with different customizations. Owners of a Pudgy Penguin also received free Lil Pudgys and access to exclusive events.
The floor price is higher than many NFT projects at 11 ETH, with sales volumes over 200,000 ETH. They expanded their reach into the plushy market, selling stuffed Pudgy Penguins online through Walmart and Amazon.
Now, they’re turning their attention to the metaverse, announcing Pudgy World is set to launch its alpha version in the first few months of 2024. It was previewed at Art Basel in Miami, and first looks are available online. It’s a 3D browser game bringing physical collectibles, blockchain technology, and the metaverse together through storytelling and enjoyable gameplay.
Pudgy Penguins has a proven commitment to innovation, making it an exciting NFT to buy this year.
3. Pikamoon
Best play-to-earn (P2E) game
Pikamoon is a play-to-earn NFT game that takes you through the world of Dreva while earning their native token $PIKA.
$PIKA is used to buy Pikamoon NFTs, unique in-game avatars. There are over 18,000 NFTs, each belonging to a different region of Dreva: Water Kingdom, Flame Empire, Earth Regions, or Thunder Collective.
You can pit your Pikamoon against other players, winning $PIKA if you win battles. You can use the in-game currency to buy potions, spells, weapons, and other powerful items to increase your odds of winning.
$PIKA currently costs $0.0006 to buy outright as phase 3 of the presale and will cost $0.0007 at the official launch. There’s no minimum investment, and they’ve raised $4.5M so far, with a goal of $6M for the presale.
4. Doodles
Best for collectors
Doodles is a refreshing, creative, pastel-themed collection of NFT art. The unique style of artwork was created by co-founder Burnt Toast, a well-known artist in the space.
Space Doodles were distributed to original Doodles holders as a reward for supporting the project and are now sold for an even higher price point.
NFT owners get to vote on how the Doodles Treasury Fund is spent, giving them a real say in the project. This is an exciting approach that has created a strong community around Doodles.
There are 9,998 Doodles available, with around 2% listed for sale (available to buy). The floor price is 1.7 ETH, with a total sales volume of almost 300,000 ETH, which means it has a high potential to flip.
5. Metropoly
Best NFT for real-world items
Metropoly is bringing real estate and the blockchain network together, allowing investors to buy properties as NFTs. Properties are created on the blockchain, minted as NFTs, and made available to buy fractional shares.
Invest in real estate for as little as $100 USD, buying a portion of a property shared with other users. Since the investments are issued as shares, they can be easily cashed out if liquidity is needed.
This isn’t a purchase of the virtual real estate. Metropoly is one of the first projects making the foray into NFTs backed by real-world assets, expanding the applications for web3 tech.
The Metropoly team is responsible for maintaining the property and keeping it leased out. Get early access to this interesting opportunity to diversify your NFT investments and capitalize on the stable real estate market.
6. Bored Ape Yacht Club
Best blue chip NFT
Bored Ape Yacht Club is the most recognizable NFT collection, widely considered a “blue chip” NFT. Created by Yuga Labs, BAYC was popularized partly by celebrities buying memorable ape avatars and using them as their profile picture on social media.
There are 10,000 Bored Apes on the Ethereum blockchain, with spin-off collections like Mutant Ape Yacht Club now available. Mutant Apes were given to Bored Ape NFT owners as a common way to reward members of a community.
The lowest price is 23 ETH, over $61,000, a significantly higher market value than other projects on this list, hence its blue-chip status. A couple hundred are typically listed for sale if you want to buy an Ape.
7. RobotEra
Best upcoming NFT game
This will be the year of NFT games, and RobotEra is one of the projects to watch.
Play as an NFT robot in the metaverse to restore a virtual planet, Taro. There are seven factions of robot: Guardian Song, Ω, Justice League, Pioneer, War Academy, Lava, and Desire Paradise.
In an immersive gaming experience, you’ll acquire resources to rebuild the planet and curate virtual museums with NFT art, organize events, and build custom amusement parks. You can also interact with other NFT projects in the metaverse.
The game token is called TARO after the planet and raised over $1M during the presale. The release of the full game in the metaverse appears to be delayed based on the ambitious roadmap, but keep an eye out for updates on this futuristic, promising NFT concept.
8. Azuki
Best artwork
As the NFT collection with the highest sales volume and market cap, Azuki is a “blue chip” project you need to know about.
It’s a collection of 10,000 anime-style avatars that grant you access to “The Garden,” a virtual world where artists and web3 enthusiasts come together.
The main city, Hilumia, features an arcade, greenhouse, gym, toy store, and areas to contribute art and ideas to build out the city further. The world continues to expand with new areas that typically correspond with an NFT drop, like the Ruins and the Alley.
Additional collections have been launched, like the Beanz sidekicks and Elementals. However, the latter received lukewarm reviews, which may open the door for flipping opportunities of the main set in the future. The floor price is 7.2 ETH, so an Azuki would cost you over $19,000.
9. Fight Out
Best for sports fans
Fight Out is the perfect NFT project for MMA fans or anyone looking to improve their fitness.
It’s a play-to-earn game where you earn their in-game currency REPS through in-app challenges and working out in real life. You earn their proprietary coin, $FGHT, through this currency, which can then be used to purchase NFTs and level up your fighter. It’s helping shape a new category of NFT known as train to earn (T2E) or move to earn (M2E).
The fighter avatars are Soulbound NFTs, whose abilities and stats are linked to the player’s real fitness level and consistency. This means your NFT becomes more valuable as you continue to train IRL and fight other players in the metaverse game.
UFC fan favorites like Amanda Ribas and Taila Santos have already promoted the platform. Fight Out is bringing gamification of fitness to NFTs and the metaverse, making it an exciting project to check out this year.
Should I Buy an NFT? Understanding the NFT Market.
There are multiple reasons to buy an NFT, whether as an investment, a way to join a community that aligns with your interests, to access a game or immersive experience, or to support an artist you like.
DYOR (Do your own research)
While there are plenty of resources to point you in the right direction regarding buying NFTs, never rely on one source and always do your own research. Make informed decisions on your investments as they only impact you at the end of the day – you have to be educated on the potential upsides and risks.
Considerations for Investing
If you want to use NFTs as an investment vehicle, look for well-established projects that have retained at least a significant percentage of their value (BAYC, Pudge Penguins, Crypto Punks). Otherwise, you may be stuck owning an NFT that has decreased in price with minimal opportunity to sell. Check if the NFT has high sales volumes and a well-established market.
Upcoming NFT projects
If it’s an upcoming NFT project, has it garnered significant attention, whether due to the reputation of the founders or artist or due to the innovation it promises? As you educate yourself on the market trends, you may become skilled enough at speculative buying or participating in presales that become high value.
Buying for Enjoyment
If you’re buying an NFT for one of the other reasons mentioned, view your expenditures as leisure spending and ensure you can afford to lose any money you put in.
Additionally, if you’re buying an NFT for the community aspect or fun, look at what sort of exclusive access and perks you’ll receive for spending money on the project. Are you prioritizing immersive experiences and a rich narrative, or do you simply want to own unique digital assets from a certain creator?
Final Tips
Be sure to look into the company behind the NFT project, the artist’s notoriety, the quality of the platform or game, online reviews, their terms and conditions, and your potential to earn rewards for your support.
How We Choose the Top NFT Projects (Methodology)
Market Activity
We look at the current price, historical value, and sales volumes of existing NFT collections.
Relevant News
We also search for relevant news about the project. Examples of the news we look out for are announcing a new collection, major price movements, or any issues the company has encountered. Making an informed decision is critical for purchasing NFTs as an investment.
Innovation
We also consider NFT projects if they’re innovatively using blockchain technology, whether practical or purely for fun. The metaverse holds major potential for the NFT market, so we look for companies making exciting moves here.
Use cases that expand the NFT world outside digital assets also catch our eye. Still, we conduct thorough research on the legitimacy of all projects regardless of how interesting they sound.
The reputation of the Creator
To choose the best upcoming NFT projects, we look at the creators and artists behind them to assess if they have the reputation and fanbase to make it high value. Digital art, similar to physical art, becomes valuable because of the artist’s notoriety.
Perhaps they’ve already had a collection sold successfully or have a loyal fan base that’s likely to create demand. An upcoming NFT can also make the list depending on what the collection represents and if it’s tied to a major cause or movement.
Which NFT Marketplace Should You Choose?
There’s an enormous variety of NFT projects to explore and consider supporting, whether as an investment or for fun. To buy an NFT, you’ll need to use a marketplace with your chosen project available for sale.
Binance is a solid exchange for buying, staking, and loaning with NFTs. Furthermore, several projects from this list are available, including Azuki, Pudgy Penguins, and Bored Ape Yacht Club. They offer helpful analytics charts to monitor market behavior and historical prices of specific NFTs.
More details
Binance NFT marketplace, a low-fee platform, enables users to trade various NFTs, including gaming, collectibles, art, and sports. Unavailable for U.S. customers, it's accessed through Binance's primary platform. Overall a great NFT platform recommended for new users.
-
Low trading fees.
-
Big-name collaborations.
-
Gaming NFTs for P2E games.
-
USer friendly.
-
Educational resources
-
Not available in the U.S.
-
Binance's regulatory challenges.
-
Unpredictability for features.
-
Pre-approved creators can mint.
OKX is another great choice for buying NFTs and offers minting services. The marketplace interface is very enjoyable to use and lets you easily find NFTs by category and popularity. This exchange features a lot of the major NFT projects like Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Moonbirds.
More details
OKX crypto exchange supports over 300 digital assets and over 80 fiat currencies. It is accessible in over 100 countries and territories across the world. It has one of the highest trading volumes in the crypto world and is a fantastic mobile app that offers all services on the go. The trading fees are very low. Its major drawback is its unavailability in certain countries.
-
Supports numerous tokens.
-
Great Mobile app.
-
Extensive educational resources.
-
Provision of multi-lingual services.
-
Geographical limitation.
-
KYC limitations.
Find new projects by browsing NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Binance, and OKX, checking the “Drops” tabs that show recent and upcoming drops.
Bored Ape Yacht Club is the best selling project, appearing at or near the top of the list for all-time sales volume across marketplaces.
OpenSea became the most popular NFT marketplace during the 2021 boom, and is still the most well-known.
The one-of-a-kind nature of non fungible tokens (NFTs) is the driving force behind their value, combined with the notoriety of the artist or access to perks.
Susan Oh
Susan Oh is a leading figure in the integration of AI and blockchain for social good, serving as the CMO for BeOmni by Beyond Imagination and a civic technologist dedicated to creating scalable solutions. She is a board member of the Blockchain Commission For Sustainable Development supported by the UN GA Office of Partnerships, and a member of the Global Sustainability Network, a joint initiative by the Vatican and the Church of England to combat human trafficking. Recognized with the...
